Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Oil

Oil-Laden Freight Trains Delaying Amtrak, Commuter Trains Across U.S.

By Steven Vance and Payton Chung | Aug 14, 2014

Oil production is booming across North America, as new technologies make it possible to extract liquid crude oil from sources like the Bakken shale oil field in North Dakota and Montana, or Alberta’s tar sands. The ever-increasing volume of crude oil mined in remote Great Plains locations often finds its way to refineries via “rolling pipelines” – freight […]

Will New Oil Supplies Slow the Transition to Green Transportation?

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 25, 2013 | 9 Comments

What if peak oil doesn’t take care of gas-guzzling by cutting off the supply? The Saudi oil fields may be finite, but new sources like the Canadian tar sands and the North Dakota oil shale keep opening up. That poses a challenge to the shift away from carbon-intensive transportation, according to Deborah Gordon, who studies transportation oils […]

Obama’s Clean Energy Policy Elevates Efficient Cars Over Efficient Modes

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 18, 2013 | 4 Comments

It has a nice ring to it: using oil and gas revenue to shift transportation off oil and gas dependence. President Obama announced a plan to do just that on Friday — but the details of his plan are disappointing if you want to see the conversation on clean transportation go beyond cars. The Energy Security […]

Interior Secretary Nominee Is a Friend to Cyclists — and Oil Drillers?

By Tanya Snyder | Feb 7, 2013

President Obama’s choice for Interior Secretary could be an unexpected breath of fresh air for cyclists. Sally Jewell, nominated to the position yesterday, is the CEO of adventure outfitter REI, a business-minded conservationist — and a veteran of the fossil fuel industry. Under Jewell, REI has been one of the nation’s leading corporate promoters of […]

Not a Word About Transit in Obama Jobs Plan

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 24, 2012 | 13 Comments

President Obama released a blueprint for his second term yesterday, a 20-page booklet focused on job creation [PDF]. Let’s be clear: This came from his campaign machine, not the White House. In the booklet, called “The New Economic Patriotism: A Plan For Jobs and Middle-Class Security,” Obama touts his success at keeping the American auto […]

What Went Unsaid at Last Night’s Debate

By Ben Fried | Oct 17, 2012

At last night’s presidential debate in Nassau County, the best opening for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to talk about transportation policy came when undecided voter Phillip Tricolla asked the following question of the President: QUESTION: Your energy secretary, Steven Chu, has now been on record three times stating it’s not policy of his department […]

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